UNITED CHAMPS AFTER CHELSEA DRAW

Manchester United were crowned Barclays Premiership champions for a record ninth time on Sunday.

United have a seven-point lead over second-placed Chelsea with two games remaining after they beat Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday and Jose Mourinho's side could only draw 1-1 at Arsenal.

It means Sir Alex Ferguson can take his team to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night having already reclaimed the title from Chelsea, who had won it for the last two seasons.

There were few chances at the Emirates Stadium before Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz was shown a red card for hauling down Julio Baptista on 42 minutes and Gilberto converted the resulting penalty.

Michael Essien's close-range header with 20 minutes left gave the Blues renewed hope - but a draw was not enough and United were champions again for the first time since 2003.

Sir Alex admitted he was "in agony" watching the final few minutes at the Emirates.

Ferguson had vowed to avoid the game but admitted he ran out of things to do to keep him occupied.

"I went to see my grandson play this afternoon; they won their league and we won ours!" Ferguson said.

"I was twiddling my thumbs. I watched the last 15 minutes at the Emirates and was in agony.

"My heart was in my mouth.

"It's a great effort by Chelsea, we've got to give them great credit."

Asked how the triumph rates with the previous eight, Ferguson said: "All of them were good.

"Maybe the fact that for two years Chelsea dominated the Premier League and we had a big job to do to catch them (makes this one special).

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